Him With That Dress
by mydoctortennant
Summary: A missing scene from 2x09 that I wrote following that episode and just found.


Arthur looked from the dress in Merlin's hand to his friends face, and passed him by, _On second thoughts,_ he turned back to his manservant, "What are you doing?" he demanded. Merlin was lost for an answer. What could he possibly come up with that would sound remotely believable?

"Uh, running an errand for Gaius," he squished the dress around by his feet, clutching onto the silky material in his hands.

"For Gaius?" Arthur asked sceptically, raising one of his eyebrows at him. He worried about Merlin sometimes, worried for the boy's sanity.

"Yes."

"Strange," he tried and failed to keep the amusement off of his face, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. Merlin squinted at him, slightly confused, then remembered the garment he held.

"Oh, oh, I don't think it's for him," Merlin smiled, a joke with Arthur? Whatever next? More water over his head?

"As long as you do a decent day's work Merlin, that's all I care about," the blonde smirked and turned his back on the servant.

"No, no!" Merlin shouted after him, "It's not for me!"

"What a man does in his spare time," he turned back around to make a fool of his servant some more, clapping his hands together in pure glee at being able to rip into him. It was amusing to say the least, "Is completely up to him."

"No, you've got this wrong," Merlin wasn't a cross dressing weirdo. Oh no, but could he really tell Arthur that it was for the druid girl he had been hiding in the basement? Not really, no. But Arthur was no longer listening. He was heeding to his own words. What a man did in his spare time was completely up to him. And he was the Prince, surely he should have _more_ freedom?

"The colour suits you, Merlin," he said finally as he turned the corner to Morgana's quarters. He wouldn't knock, but as it turned out, he didn't have to. As he walked past he saw the doors wide open, he would have to teach Merlin to shut door's some time, that boy really had been born in a barn, only he got sidetracked in his thoughts by the figure that stood there.

Utterly dumbfounded in the centre of the room was Guinevere. She looked speechless, like all reason in life had completely escaped her.

"Guinevere?" he called out, her baffled expression did not leave her face, the lines of confusion on her forehead deepened, but there was something about it that Arthur found, enthralling.

"Sire," she said after a few moments silence.

"Have you just witness as I have?" he asked her, unable to keep mirth from his voice.

"If you mean Merlin holding up Morgana's dresses to himself and telling me he has to burn it due to a moth infestation, then yes."

"Well he told me it was for Gaius."

"I do not think it is quite Gaius' colour, my lord."

"Rather suited Merlin though, didn't it?" Gwen laughed at his joke, trying her hardest not to feel awkward. They had barely spoken to each other since the incident with Lancelot. Give or take a few times where she tried to appeal to his human side, saving town's folk from taxes and Gaius from the flames, "That's more like it."

"I'm sorry, sire?"

"A smile on your face, Guinevere. I do not think I have seen one of those for a while."

"I am sorry if it upset you, my lord."

"My only concern is that I have done something to upset you, _my_ _lady_," he smirked; two could play at that game. Although above anything she was a servant in his father's household, Guinevere was still a friend to him in his eyes. He had grown into the man he was today with her in his presence, Morgana's friend and maid, why couldn't she be his friend too? Of course kissing ones friend's isn't necessarily seen as the norm, not in most cases, and certainly not in the case of a Crowned Prince and a Handmaiden.

"No, my lord, I am quite alright."

"I am glad to hear it. Now I wonder if you can explain my manservant to me."

"I don't think anybody could explain Merlin, sire. He is very much a peculiar being."

"Running away with one of Morgana's dresses," Arthur was still most amused. Though with two different excuses, it did have him wondering what it was Merlin really wanted with the garment. Surely he wasn't going to be parading around in it. As lithe as the boy was, he wasn't as small as Morgana, no matter how much he tried. Unless he used magic, but Merlin? Arthur mentally laughed at the thought.

"He is lucky it is not one of her favourites. There would be hell to pay if it were."

"I am sure she will get in back in one piece, whatever it is he is doing with it."

"I should be getting back to work, sire," Guinevere acknowledged, waiting for Arthur to reply before she moved off.

"And I to training," he said, looking out of the window to the grounds then back at Guinevere with a smile, "I shall see you soon, Guinevere. And do try and find out what Merlin wanted with that dress."

"Certainly, my lord," Arthur turned to leave before having one final thought and looking back at her over his shoulder.

"Oh and Guinevere?"

"Yes, sire?"

"Call me Arthur."


End file.
